Readings Package – The Medieval Church
Document #1
The Relationship between Church and State
SOURCE: Pope Innocent III - Papal Authority: Letter to the prefect
Acerbius and the nobles of Tuscany, 1198
“Just as the founder of the universe established two great lights in
the firmament of heaven, the greater light to rule the day, and the
lesser light to rule the night, so too He set two great dignities in the
firmament of the universal church..., the greater one to rule the day,
that is, souls, and the lesser to rule the night, that is, bodies. These
dignities are the papal authority and the royal power. Now just as
the moon derives its light from the sun and is indeed lower than it in
quantity and quality, in position and in power, so too the royal
power derives the splendor of its dignity from the pontifical
authority....”
Document #2
The Relationship between Church and State
SOURCE: An excerpt from Pope Innocent III’s Innaugural Sermon, 1198
"Ye see what manner of servant that is whom the Lord hath set over His people; no other than the vicegerent of Christ, the successor of St. Peter. He is the Lord's anointed; he stands in the midst between God
and man; below God, above man; less than God, more than man. He judges all, he is judged by none, for it
is written, 'I will judge.' But he whom the preeminence of dignity exalts, is lowered by his office of a
servant that so humility may be exalted, and pride abased; for God is against the high-minded; and to the
lowly he showeth mercy: and he who exalteth himself shall be abased."
1. How does Pope Innocent justify the supremacy of the Church over monarchs?
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2. How does he suggest monarchs will benefit from submission to papal authority?
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Document #3
The Medieval Church and the Jews
SOURCE: Pope Innocent III – Letter on the Jews, 1199
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/innIIIpolicies.asp
“We decree that no Christian shall use violence to
compel the Jews to accept baptism. But if a Jew, of his
own accord, because of a change in his faith, shall have
taken refuge with Christians, after his wish has been
made known, he may be made a Christian without any
opposition. For anyone who has not of his own will
sought Christian baptism cannot have the true Christian faith. No Christian shall do the Jews any personal
injury, except in executing the judgments of a judge, or deprive them of their possessions, or change the
rights and privileges which they have been accustomed to have. During the celebration of their festivals,
no one shall disturb them by beating them with clubs or by throwing stones at them. No one shall compel
them to render any services except those which they have been accustomed to render. And to prevent the
baseness and avarice of wicked men we forbid anyone to deface or damage their cemeteries or to extort
money from them by threatening to exhume the bodies of their dead....”
1.
How would you summarize Pope Innocent’s approach to Jewish communities in Europe?
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2.
The final sentence is uncomfortably detailed. Why do you think it was included?
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Document #4
Dealing with Threats, Heresy, and Questions to Church Doctrine
SOURCE: A decree of excommunication (10c) as quoted in
Henry C. Lea, editor, Studies in Church History,
Philadelphia: Henry C. Lea, pp. 333-39.
“In the name of God, and by the power of the Holy Ghost, and
the authority divinely granted to bishops by Peter, chief of the
Apostles, we separate them from the bosom of holy Mother
Church, and condemn them with the anathema of the eternal
curse, that they may have no help of man nor any converse
with Christians. Let them be accursed in the city and accursed
in the country. Accursed be their barns and accursed their
bones; accursed be the . . . seed of their lands, their flocks of
sheep, and their herds of cattle. Accursed be they in their
entering and in their outgoing. Be they accursed at home and
homeless elsewhere. . . . Upon their heads fall all the curses
with which God through His servant Moses threatened the
transgressors of the Divine Law. Let them be anathema
maranatha [terribly accursed], and let them perish in the
second coming of the Lord; and let them moreover endure
whatever of evil is provided in the sacred canons and the apostolic decrees for murder and sacrilege. Let the
righteous sentence of Divine Condemnation consign them to eternal death. Let no Christian salute them. Let no
priest say Mass for them, nor in sickness receive their confession, nor, unless they repent, grant them the
sacrosanct communion even on their deathbed. But let them be buried in the grave of an ass, . . . that their shame
and malediction may be a warning to present and future generations. And, as these lights which we now cast from
our hands are extinguished, so may their light be quenched in eternal darkness.”
1. How would you summarize the punishment above?
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3. What purpose would excommunication serve for the Church?
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Document #5
Dealing with Threats, Heresy, and Questions to Church Doctrine
SOURCE: Peter Abelard, Sic et Non, 1120.
Peter Abelard was a French philosopher in the 12th century. In his
most famous work, “Sic or Non”, he quotes Christian theologians’
teachings on various doctrines to illustrate the lack of consensus
among them. He then listed 158 contradictions and problems as yes
or no questions and argued both sides to prove his implied thesis
that the truth to these fundamental religious questions was to be
decided by each believer.
“There are many seeming contradictions and even obscurities in the
innumerable writings of the Church fathers. Our respect for their
authority should not stand in the way of an effort on our part to come
at the truth. The obscurity and contradictions in ancient writings may
be explained upon many grounds, and may be discussed without
impugning the good faith and insight of the fathers.... In view of these considerations, I have ventured to
bring together various dicta [comments] of the holy fathers, as they came to mind, and to formulate
certain questions which were suggested by the seeming contradictions in the statements. These
questions ought to serve to excite tender readers to zealous inquiry into truth and so sharpen their wits.
The master key of knowledge is indeed, a persistent and frequent questioning. Aristotle, the most clearsighted of all the philosophers, was desirous above all things else to arouse this questioning spirit, for in
his Categories he exhorts a student as follows: "It may well be difficult to reach a positive conclusion in
these matters unless they be frequently discussed. It is by no means fruitless to be doubtful on particular
points." By doubting we come to examine, and by examining we reach the truth.
Should human faith be based upon reason, or no?
Is God the author of evil, or no?
Do we sometimes sin unwillingly, or no?
Does God punish the same sin both here and in the future, or no?
Is it worse to sin openly than secretly, or no?
1.
Why does Abelard feel the need to question the Church?
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2.
How do you think the Church reacted to this type of questioning?
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Document #6
Dealing with Threats, Heresy, and Questions to Church Doctrine
SOURCE: St. Bernard of Clairvaux, early 1100s.
The following is an excerpt from the writings of St. Bernard of
Clairvaux, wherein he responds to the works of Peter Abelard.
“We have in France an old teacher turned into a new theologian, who
in his early days amused himself with dialectics and who now gives
utterance to wild imaginations upon the Holy Scriptures. . . . I know
not what there is in heaven above and in the earth beneath which he
deigns to confess ignorance of: he raises his eyes to heaven and
searches the deep things of God and . . . brings back unspeakable
words which it is not lawful for a man to utter, while he is ...prepared
to give a reason for everything, even for those things which are above
reason; he presumes against reason and against faith. For what is
more against reason than by reason to attempt to transcend reason?
And what is more against faith than to be unwilling to believe what
reason cannot attain?... And so he promises understanding to his
hearers, even on those most sublime and sacred truths which are hidden in the very bosom of our holy
faith; and he places degrees in the Trinity, modes in the Majesty, numbers in the Eternity. . . . Who does
not shudder at such novel profanities of words and ideas?”
1. Why does St. Bernard think the writings of Church theologians should not be questioned?
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Document #7
Declaring a Crusade
SOURCE: Pope Urban calls for a Crusade, 1095
“Most beloved brethren: Urged by necessity, I, Urban, by the
permission of God chief bishop and prelate over the whole world,
have come into these parts as an ambassador with a divine
admonition to you, the servants of God…”
"Although, O sons of God, you have promised more firmly than ever
to keep the peace among yourselves and to preserve the rights of the
church, there remains still an important work for you to do. Freshly
quickened by the divine correction, you must apply the strength of
your righteousness to another matter which concerns you as well as
God. For your brethren who live in the east are in urgent need of
your help, and you must hasten to give them the aid which has often
been promised them. For, as the most of you have heard, the Turks
and Arabs have attacked them and have conquered the territory of
Romania [the Greek empire] as far west as the shore of the
Mediterranean and the Hellespont, which is called the Arm of St.
George. They have occupied more and more of the lands of those Christians, and have overcome them in
seven battles. They have killed and captured many, and have destroyed the churches and devastated the
empire. If you permit them to continue thus for awhile with impurity, the faithful of God will be much
more widely attacked by them. On this account I, or rather the Lord, beseech you as Christ's heralds to
publish this everywhere and to persuade all people of whatever rank, foot-soldiers and knights, poor and
rich, to carry aid promptly to those Christians and to destroy that vile race from the lands of our friends. I
say this to those who are present, it meant also for those who are absent. Moreover, Christ commands it.”
"All who die by the way, whether by land or by sea, or in battle against the pagans, shall have immediate
remission of sins. This I grant them through the power of God with which I am invested. O what a
disgrace if such a despised and base race, which worships demons, should conquer a people which has
the faith of omnipotent God and is made glorious with the name of Christ! With what reproaches will the
Lord overwhelm us if you do not aid those who, with us, profess the Christian religion! Let those who
have been accustomed unjustly to wage private warfare against the faithful now go against the infidels
and end with victory this war which should have been begun long ago. Let those who for a long time, have
been robbers, now become knights. Let those who have been fighting against their brothers and relatives
now fight in a proper way against the barbarians. Let those who have been serving as mercenaries for
small pay now obtain the eternal reward. Let those who have been wearing themselves out in both body
and soul now work for a double honor. Behold! on this side will be the sorrowful and poor, on that, the
rich; on this side, the enemies of the Lord, on that, his friends. Let those who go not put off the journey,
but rent their lands and collect money for their expenses; and as soon as winter is over and spring comes,
let them eagerly set out on the way with God as their guide.”
1. What does the Pope offer those who go on Crusade?
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